Course Description

Introduction to causes and physical characteristics of disasters such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunami, hurricanes, storm surge, thunderstorms, tornadoes, landslides, wind waves, meteor impacts, mass extinctions.

UBC Calendar

For a full listing of course offerings please see the UBC calendar description

Learning Goals

A. For earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, storms, waves, and
meteor impacts, you will:

1. Learn how they work.
2. Locate the dangerous places where they've often occurred.
3. Learn ways to observe and monitor them.
4. Find out why it's hard to forecast them.
5. Learn what you and your community can do to prepare for them.

B. We will strive to:

1. Empower you to be a survivor.
2. Enable you to approach new challenges insightfully.
3. Sharpen your observations of nature.
4. Stimulate your excitement in our planet.

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Instructors

Sections 101 and 102 - Stull, Eberhardt, Grey, Andrews, Balmforth, Finnis.

Section 201 - Stull, Eberhardt, Grey, Andrews, Sutherland, Balmforth, Finnis.

Sections 99A and 99C (Distance Education) - Ver

EOSC114 is currently part of EOS-SEI, the EOS Science Education Initiative.

 

Textbook

• (Custom Edition for UBC), 2008: "The Catastrophic Earth, Natural Disasters". Pearson Custom Publishing. (shrinkwrapped package includes the 327 page textbook, a 64 page "Encounter Earth" booklet, a "Hazard City" CD, and a coupon for a $10 rebate on the purchase of an i>clicker.) ISBN 10: 0135066808, or ISBN 13: 9780135066805.
• A student personal response system ("i-clicker" brand) is also required. This is the new clicker that has been adopted UBC-wide. (The old PRS InterWrite clickers are NOT used any more at UBC.)

Both the textbook package and the i-clicker are less expensive if you buy them at Discount Textbooks, located on University Blvd 2 blocks off campus above the McDonald's restaurant.

 

Course Content

Sections:

• The course web page (go here for all course info) [Fall term (sections 101 and 102) and Spring term (section 201)]
• Distance Ed sections 99A and 99C (CWL login required.)
• Summer 2008.

If the section you want is full, consider registering for the Distance Education section (99A in Fall, or 99C in Spr) instead. It's the same course covering the same content for the same credits, but you do it online from home. Over 90% of the Distance Ed students are normal on-campus UBC students like you.

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The Earth Course Assistance Centre a free help service for all students in 1st year EOSC courses.

 

 

Lecture Topics

Week	Topic
1-2	Fragile System?: The earth, ocean, atmosphere system. Natural disasters are rare events. Energy available for change. Risk analysis. Population issues.
2-3	The Turbulent Atmosphere: Hurricanes, thunderstorms, tornadoes, lightning. Relationship to meteorology.
4-5	The Violent Ocean: Tsunami, storm surge, wind waves, rogue waves. Relationship to oceanography.
6-8	The Unstable Ground: Landslides, debris flows, mud flows, erosion, floods. Relationship to hydrology, geological engineering.
8-9	The Shaking Earth: Plate tectonics, faults, earthquakes, volcanoes, eruptions, lava, ash, pyroclastic flows. Relationship of disasters to the broader fields of seismology, geology, geophysics.
10-11	Impacts from Space & Mass Extinction Events: Meteor impacts, mass extinctions. Relationship to paleontology.
12-13	The Explosive Earth: Volcanoes, eruptions, lava, ash, pyroclastic flows. Relationship of these earth disasters to the broader fields of volcanology and geology.
13	Review: Physical processes common to geophysical disasters.

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Labs

Although we don't require that you take a lab, your own program might require that you take a "lab-based" science course. If you need such a lab-based course, the way you do it is by registering for both the 3-credit EOSC 114 (the normal lecture course or the distance ed version) and the 1-credit laboratory course EOSC 111 concurrently with EOSC 114. Even if your own program doesn't require that your science course be lab based, many students find that by taking the lab it helps them to understand the lecture material better.